Blues Traveler
But anyway... That term just permeated the
campus of my university my freshman year. A smart statement?
Not really. An original statement? Nope. But, was this band,
with its jam-band tendencies, its slick basslines, harmonicas
and obese lead singer a perfect compliment to drunk eighteen-year-olds
everywhere? Of course. The shit is feel-good. There's no two
ways about it. How could you not get down with the rotund John
Popper and his "But Anyway" refrains? Who wouldn't want to "Drop
a Little NYC" over sweet harmonica lines? And then the album
spirals into bar band territory, which is, I believe, where
the band came from. In retrospect, the stuff is kind of kitschy,
and almost hokey in an "Adventures in Babysitting" blues kind
of way, but it certainly kept the kiddies smiling. John Popper
does also have an odd Cat Stevens thing going on, that mixes
nicely with the bluesy thing. Blues-based pop music for drunk
white college kids sounds like a good idea on the surface and
if it caused a few of them to go out and buy a couple Lightnin'
Hopkins records, it was all worth it. |
Save His Soul
This, their third album, finds the band in
flux. They are a jam band, after all, and how does one show
that on record without boring the pants off of the general public?
It's actually kind of impossible. That's why Deadheads buy bootlegs.
That's why people smoke tons of weed before going to these shows
too, as jam band music is actually the work of Satan, and is
only bearable when high or dead. Anyway, these guys end up flip-flopping
between the sweetness and sensitivity of their first album,
and more aggressive jam band stuff that chugs along like a locomotive.
They've also apparently discovered guitar pedals, as they tend
to push the distortion on a bunch of songs in a way I don't
recall them doing before. Songs like "Defense & Desire" almost
sound like parodies of early 70's rock, and really get away
from their core talent for something just, um, bad. There's
just a lot of crap going on here. Some of it may have to do
with having several guys in the band contributing to the song
writing, but I think it's just more of a case of them trying
not to sound as homogenous as they did on their last album.
John Popper certainly has an emotive, expressive voice, and
it would be interesting to hear him try something different.
He could be the next Rueben Studdard! |
Travelers & Thieves
Blues Travelers' heyday lasted exactly one
album. I have no idea what possessed me to pick this sophomore
album up, but here it is sitting in my collection. Right off
the bat, you can tell this is going to be a darker album than
their last. Why that tends to happen, I'm not sure; bands that
taste a little bit of success like to come back bitter and less
accessible on their second album. Of course, that's the kind
of crap they say about Christina Aguilera when she dares to
stop dancing around for a second. In all honesty, the novelty
is gone, and so is any sense of excitement. Is it a bad album?
No, not if you like mid-tempo blues-pop sung by a fat Cat Stevens.
Without ever really hearing a Sting solo album after Dream
of the Blue Turtles, I kind of imagine it's similar to
that--just too much of the same thing. Oh, and what a super-queer
album cover. Seriously D&D. |
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